By
Obododimma Oha
The Igbo call the narration of descent, which every male adult should know, "Ntaala" ("The entire thing" or "The entire rendition"). There may be other variations in the naming. But the important thing is descent "Ntaala", which is considered is valuable for (1) checking and challenging one to have memory, (2) preserving and transmitting history, (3) showing the nobility of origin, (4) having good knowledge of how the present time relates with the past.
In Igbo tradition, a male child is considered a continuation of the family. This male child is taught the story of the family and so is indirectly reminded that he should have and keep the memory of the family. Keeping the memory of the family is a huge task but it has to be done. And is done in many ways : (1) through regular rituals and constant invocation of the presence of ancestors in observances, (2) readiness to educate younger ones about origin and past actors, and (3) applying the narrative appropriately to defend and locate the family well in local politics.
It is important to observe that the idea of "family" here is not European, with only a father and a mother and their children, if available. But the "family" is what is regarded as "extended family." The family, in traditional Igbo thinking, is the bloodline and there may be other mothers and fathers in it. This "family" is a giant tree with branches. The branch is not the main tree!
The essence of the story of the family is its transmission. Younger ones have to be taught this oral history and should always remember it. In other words, the immortality of the family is its story.
As we can see, knowing the story of one's family is considered very essential. That one has gone to school and has forgotten it is highly regretted.
The power of this knowledge is seen in local politics when people have to state this past and define the future. It is a thing of great shame if the representative of a family does not show good knowledge of its past in the presence of other representatives. Even if this story is distorted, with salt and pepper added, the most important thing is that it has cleverly featured, and this cleverness is knowledge itself.
Those of us who have gone to school would remember Western theories and how to use them. But, sadly, we cannot remember stories of our families or a single theory that is used in our local communities concerning pastness or the present.
The story of this family may have intersection with the story of that other family. The intersection is very important and needs to be attended to, now or after. That intersection. That may be the answer. That very meeting of road and road. That intersection may be the node.
There is a questionable masculinist dimension in this keeping of the story of the family only in the male, same way it is worrisome that only the male can be the ọfọ holder and custodian of culture in the Igbo society. The argument is that the woman would marry out and the story would be lost. The story would not be lost but extended!
The man is not just a keeper of the memory of the story of the family. He has become the story.
The masculinization of the story of the family identifies the male as the most important. That is unnecessary. The theory about the most important is diversionary. The woman can also remember and remind the male head of the family about something that happened in the family in the past. Memory has no gender!
What is rather very important is that this is an assignment to the male. Forgetting, in this case, is disastrous. Can one forget oneself? If that happens, it is terrible.
It is crucial that one is able to tell one's story, not another person or group doing it. That other person or group may distort the story for some reasons.
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